Episode 1258: Slow-Pitch Baseball
Date August 18, 2018 Summary Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Ben’s introduction to climbing, a Mets-Phillies blowout, Scott Kingery’s slow pitches, Jacob deGrom’s run support, Jose Ureña’s suspension and how to punish hit by pitches, the Rangers’ odd triple play and the 2002 debut of Ron Wright, Matt Kemp’s slump, and an umpire’s rapid reaction, then answer listener emails about Mike Trout’s value if he couldn’t slide, the ethics of using strategy in Little League, Kevin Gausman and the decline of pitching from the stretch, making rental-trade returns contingent on what happens after the trade, how to trade up from nothing to something (Dwight Schrute-style), and the job security of established GMs like Brian Cashman, plus a Stat Blast about the humidor-equipped Chase Field and teams that hit the ball harder at home or on the road. Topics * Mike Trout not able to slide * Advanced stats in little league * Pitching from the stretch * GM job security * Rental player trade return tiers Intro * Aretha Franklin, "Think" Outro * Aretha Franklin, "Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" Banter * Ben went climbing * Mets Phillies game Thursday * Scott Kingery * Rangers triple play * Jose Urena suspension * What should a pitcher suspension look like * Ron Wright Email Questions * Doug Graham (Patreon): A headfirst slide sent him to the DL last year and a feet-first slide has him back on the DL this year so I pose the following: How good would Mike Trout be if he wasn't allowed to slide? * Andrew Patrick (Patreon): Let's say you're a little league coach. You discover after some charting of games that little league hitters are extremely predictable, and that if you want to, you can shift your defense to get putouts 95% of the time. You can move your best fielders around to do this with simple hand gestures and an iPad. My question is, is it morally reprehensible to win little league games through coaching alone? * Bobby: I was reading the postgame comments from Gausman's latest gem against the Brewers. He credited a large part of the performance to pitching from the stretch the whole game, I believe for the first time. Obviously the results speak for themselves, SSS caveat of course. Is there a way to check windup vs stretch splits somewhere? Was this one of the tweaks the Braves envisioned unlocking Gausman's potential? Is this something more pitchers should try? * Ryan (Red Sox fan): If the Yankees miss both wild cards, will they fire Cashman and screw up their front office? * Shawn Cusack (Patreon); t’s no secret rental players have been bringing back less value in recent years, due to how most teams view them. What if teams traded a rental player, but what was sent back in return was decided based on how the team performed the rest of the season? There would be a base package that the selling team gets no matter what, but the package gets a little better as the team progresses in the season. You could have base package plus one if the buying team makes the playoffs, base package plus two if they win the pennant and base package plus three if they win the World Series. Would teams go for this approach, and would the league allow it? * Luis: Hi, Ben and Jeff! I recently re-watched an episode of The Office where they have a garage sale in the warehouse. Dwight being Dwight, he challenges himself to trade a thumbtack for increasingly more valuable objects until he emerges with the most expensive item at the garage sale. He actually manages to trade all the way up to a fancy telescope, but then falls for Jims prank and trades it for some of his "Miracle Legumes". What would be the equivalent in baseball? Let's say a particularly gifted GM when it comes to trades, let's call him Perry Dijoto, challenged himself to get an All Star player from nothing. Let's say the goal is just to get that All-Star on the roster, no matter for how long. What's the least valuable asset Perry could start with? Or what's the most he could get from like, say, a AAAA player? Would there be strategy choosing between position players, starters or relievers? How long would this process take? Statblast * In the last 3 years the humidor have done its job. * Citi field in 2105 has the biggest difference in negative batted ball velocity. * Since 2015 Mets home games have had a 303 expected WOBA, away games have a 320 expected WOBA. Notes * “Could you imagine the blisters if Rich Hill climbed?” - Ben * Thursday's game was the biggest margin of victory in Mets history. * 24 - 4 has only happened 6 times in major league history. * Scott Kingery pitched, and he pitched so slow pitch FX could not pick it up. Links https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/effectively-wild-episode-1258-slow-pitch-baseball/ Link to Andrew McCutchen’s brawl recap Link to Scott Kingery’s slow pitch Link to Andrew Dominijanni’s slowest-possible-pitch trajectories Link to Mike Fast on the slowest possible pitch Link to Levi Weaver on the Rangers’ triple play Link to umpire bat-flip GIF Link to Jeff on the new Chase Field Link to Mike Petriello on Minute Maid Park Link to Jeff on the disappearing windup Link to Marc Carig on the Yankees’ clubhouse culture Link to Dan Szymborski on the decline of Kemp Category:Episodes Category:Email Episodes